"They thought that was a pile of crap! They said... 'Patterson, would you please start worrying about science instead of this health crap. What a waste! Here you are, you measured the age of the earth, and you're worrying about tetraethyl lead.'"
-Clair Patterson
"The fact that I have had interviews, phone calls, emails such as yours has kept him very alive for me... He is definitely not forgotten and is praised for honest and reliable science against unusual odds."
-Laurie Patterson
"Dr. Patterson's knowledge that man was poisoning his own environment gave him righteous indignation."
-Dr. Paul H. Patterson
"My father was feared by his detractors, revered as the ultimate scientist by his colleagues, and loved by all who experienced his great compassion and mischievous sense of humor. Anyone who ever met him never forgot the experience."
-Charles Patterson